The Animal Kingdom is a smart consideration of queerness and mental health – review
We weren’t quite sure what to expect from new show The Animal Kingdom, the second play from Ruby Thomas. Directed by Lucy Morrison and opening at the tiny downstairs space at The Hampstead Theatre, it tells the story of Sam (Ragevan Vasan) who is struggling, and his family don’t understand him – but then they barely understand themselves, or each other.
Set in a stuffy inpatient clinic, over the course of 80 minutes we see Sam undergo various sessions of family therapy, which are facilitated by Daniel (Paul Keating).
We learn a lot about our characters over the course of the play. It’s established pretty early on that Sam is queer and has a history of self-harm which we assume is related to bullying at school and his parents’ divorce, which his family are quick to point towards as causes of his issues – but gradually we learn more about Sam and the rest of the family, unpacking a number of events in their history which have gone unspoken about and as a result no-one has really processed.
The resulting play is a smart consideration of several topical issues including queerness, identity and mental health. It’s well-observed and really is one of those shows that truly reveals itself the further into proceedings we progress.
